Handleless discharge head for portable fluid dispensing apparatus



May 8, 1956 H. H. SCHROEDER. JR HANDLELESS DISCHARGE HEAD FOR PORTABLEFLUID DISPENSING APPARATUS Filed July 19, 1952 INVENTOR. HengflScfiroemhATYURAE'Y United States Patent HANDLELESS DISCHARGE HEAD FOR PORTABLEFLUID DISPENSING APPARATUS Henry H. Schroeder, Jr., Essex Fells, N. .L,assignor to Specialties Development Corporation, Beileville, N. 1., acorporation of New Jersey Application July 19, 1952, Serial No. 299,834

1 Claim. (Cl. 169-31) The present invention relates to improvements in adischarge head for portable fluid dispensing apparatus such as fireextinguishers, insecticide sprayers and the like.

Such apparatus generally comprises a cylindrical receptacle for storingunder pressure the medium to be dispensed; and a discharge head securedto the upper end of the receptacle including a valve body for a manuallyoperable valve for releasing the medium, a discharge directing shieldconnected to the valve body and a, carrying handle also connected to thevalve body. I

In such apparatus the handle and the shield extend,

laterally outwardly beyond the receptacle, and, in some instances wherea lever type valve operating element is employed, such element alsoextends laterally outwardly beyond the receptacle. Consequently, inpackaging such apparatus for shipment by placing the same intoindividual cartons or the like, the cross sectional area of the cartonwas required to be of a size sutiicient to accommodate the outwardlyprojecting parts of the discharge head thereby requiring a larger sizecarton than normally adapted to receive the storage receptacle and thevalve body. As a result, the cost of the cartons is increased and thespace required to store the cartons with the apparatus therein likewiseis increased. This provides an important outwardly beyond the storagereceptacle are eliminated.

Another object is to provide such a discharge head wherein the valveoperating element and the shield are constructed and arranged tofacilitate manually supporting and operating the apparatus in a simpleand practical manner.

Another object is to provide such apparatus which is adapted fordispensing fire extinguishing fluids of the snow forming or vaporizingtype which cause considerable cooling of the shield while passingtherethrough.

Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon anunderstanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, orwill be indicated in the appended claim, and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing objects areaccomplished by providing a handleless discharge head generallycomprising a valve body, a substantially vertically movable valve in thebody including a valve operating stem having its upper end extendingupwardly through the upper end of the body, a substantially horizontalforwardly facing discharge directing shield connected to the body at thefront side thereof, and a valve stem operating lever having one endpivotally mounted at the upper end ofthe body adjacent the back sidethereof and extending diametrically across the stem and having its otherend adjacent the inner end of the shield, whereby the shield provides afinger gn'p for sup porting the head and the lever is adapted to beoperated by pressing thereon with the thumb. In the embodiment of theinvention about to be described, the shield is removably connected tothe valve body, and'provisionis made for heat insulating the exterior ofthe shield to enable the same tojbe gripped comfortably while a fluidwhich causes cooling thereof is discharged therethrough.

'Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of theapparatus shown in Fig. 1 with the lever locking pin applied.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the apparatus as shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing in detail, apparatus, such as a fireextinguisher, is shown which generally comprises a cylindricalreceptacle It] for storing a medium under pressure; a spud or nipple 11secured tothe upper end of the receptacle; and a discharge head 12attached to the spud, including a valve seat member 13, a valve body 14,a valve member 15,'a valve operating stem 16, a valve stem operatinglever 17 and a discharge directing horn or shield 18.

The spud 11 is formed with a vertical central bore 19 Y which isconstricted adjacent'its lower end to provide an annular shoulder forsupporting the flange of a s'yphon tube'20 extending to adjacent thebottom of the receptacle, and also is formed With an exteriorly threadednipple portion 21. The spud may further; be formed with a radialpassageway 22 in communication with the bore 19 for mounting a safetyplug 24 of the type including a fusible element 25 adapted to unseal thepassageway in the event the apparatus is subjected to a higher thanpredetermined temperature whereby the pressure within the receptacle canbe relieved before attaining an unsafe value.

The valve body 14 is generally cup-shaped, .and com-L prises aninteriorly threaded skirt portion 26 adapted to v be secured to thenipple portion 21, a shoulder 27 cooperat-, ing with the upperend of thenipple portion to hold the valve seat member in place, a bore 29terminating in an opening at the top of the valve body through which theupper end of the valve stem 16 extends, and a laterally extending,exteriorly threaded nipple 30 formed with a discharge passageway 31which has its inner end in communication with the bore 29.

The valve seat member 13 is an apertured metallic disc providing adischarge port controlled by the valve member 15 and having an annularzone against which the valve member is adapted to seat. As shown, thevalve member isurged upwardly against theseat member by a spring 32seated on theflange of the syphon tube 20 which at the same time holdsthe latter downwardly.

The valve stem operating lever 17 has one end thereof pivotally mountedat thev upper corner of the valve body,

opposite the side from which the nipple 30 extends, by means of 'a pin33 which is perpendicularly disposed with respect to the longitudinalaxis of the valve steam 16.

This lever is generally channel-shaped, and includes a top portion 34extending diametrically across the valve stem for engagement therewithand further includes side flanges 35 between which the upper end portionof the valve body extends.

The portion 34 extends to about the inner end of the shield 13, and, byreason of its positioning with respect to the shield, is in cooperatingarrangement therewith, whereby the shield provides a finger grip forsupporting the discharge head (with the receptacle attached thereto) andthe lever is adapted to be operated by pressing thereon with the thumb.This manner of carrying the apparatus and operating the same isillustrated more particularly in Fig. l which illustrates the ease withwhich the shield can be grasped and the application of thumb pressure onthe lever to take advantage of the leverage provided by this arrangementof elements to unseat the valve member against the force of the spring32 and the pressure of the medium in the receptacle. All this isaccomplished without the need of a carrying handle, whereby the cost ofthe apparatus is reduced and the apparatus is more compact and can bepackaged in a smaller carton.

Preferably, the lever 17 is restrained against accidental orunauthorized operation. This may be accomplished by a pin 36 having apair of prongs 37 one of which extends into an aperture in the valvebody and the other of which extends into an aperture in one of the sideflanges 35 of the lever (Fig. 2). A ring-shaped section 39 (Fig. 3)connects the prongs which facilitates withdrawalof the pin. If desired,the pin may be fastened to the valve body by a seal wire which isadapted to be broken when the pin is to be withdrawn.

The shield 18 is generally cylindrical and has an open outer end and awall at its inner end formed with an interiorly threaded opening 40 forreceiving the nipple 30 and an orifice 41 communicating with thepassageway 31. An annular gasket 42 forms 'a seal between the end of thenipple 30 and a shoulder 44 provided by the opening 40. If desired, thegasket may be adhered to this shoulder or retained thereon in any othersuitable manner to prevent loss thereof in the event the shield isremoved during shipment.

Since the shield is likely to become quite cold when vaporizablepressure medium is expanded through the orifice 41, the exterior of theshield preferably is heat insulated. This may 'be accomplished in aconvenient manner by stretching a rubber sleeve 45 over the cylindricalbody part of the shield which is in the region grasped by the fingers ofthe operator.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the presentinvention provides asimple, compact and economical discharge head fordispensing apparatus which is .practical and reliable in operation.

As various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangementof the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to beunderstood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrativeand not in any limiting sense.

I claim:

A handleless discharge head for fire extinguishing apparatus of the typeincluding a receptacle containing a fire extinguishing agent adapted toproduce a refrigerating effect upon expansion thereof and having anopening, said head comprising a nipple adapted to be mounted in theopeni g, a valve body having a vertical bore provided with a valve seatand a portion below said valve seat secured to said nipple and having ahorizontal outlet nipple at the front side thereof in communication with,said bore, said body having a substantially fiat upper end surfaceformed with an aperture, a vertically movable 'valve for said valve seatincluding a valve operating stem having its upper end extending upwardlythrough said upper end surface aperture of said body, a horizontalforwardly facing discharge directing shield having a cylindrical bodyportion formed with a bore removably connected to said valve body nippleat the front side thereof and formed with an orifice at the interiorthereof in communication with said valve body nipple, a valve stemoperating lever having side flanges each formed with an opening adjacentone end thereof, a pin extending through said openings and the upper endof said valve body adjacent the back side thereof extends for pivotallymounting one end of said lever so that said lever extends diametricallyacross said valve operating stem and is inclined with respect to saidvalve body upper end surface and has its free end adjacently above theinner end of said discharge shield, and a cylindrical rubber insulatingsleeve fitting over said shield body portion and gripping the same, saiddischarge shield being the sole element associated with said dischargehead which extends laterally outwardly of said head to a point beyondthe outer periphery of the receptacle, whereby said discharge shieldprovides a finger grip for supporting said head and said lever isadapted to be operated by pressing thereon with the thumb to move thesame into a horizontal position to unseat said valve, and, when saidshield is removed, the remaining elements of said discharge head arewithin the maximum horizontal cross section area of said receptacle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS578,703 Parker et al Mar. 9, 1897 778,439 Battelle Dec. 27, l9042,023,984 Wells, Jr. H Dec. 10, 1935 2,098,454 Kelly, Jr. Nov. 9, 19372,533,685 Nurkiewiez Dec. l2, i950 FOREIGN PATENTS 622,004 Great BritainApr. 26, 1949

